Blue eyes narrowed, the barely visible slit pupils focusing on her. It rumbled as it cocked its head again, this time at her. Its eyes drifted down her form and then back up again. It made a sound almost like a disgusted sigh and released her, dropping her unceremoniously to the floor. Terri wheezed as the impact took her breath away, and she spent several minutes gasping for air before she slowly sat up. Rubbing at her neck, she studied the alien quietly. It didn’t kill her, so that was a step in the right direction. Instead, it sat on the broken edge of a wall, busy with self-inspection. It swung its head around as if looking for something, its mouth pulling down into a frown.
“My blaster—where is it?” it growled in a raspy voice.
Terri’s mouth dropped open. It spoke English? How…? “Uh, I don’t know,” she said. “I didn’t see anything near you when I took you out of the Reaper camp.”
“Reaper,” it muttered and grunted with a sound that was close to mirthful. Its eyes focused on her again. “Are you a Reaper too, little female?”
The way it dragged the last word made her shiver. “No,” she whispered. “I would never be one of them.”
Its expression became calculating. In her experience, that expression never boded well for her. She hastened to introduce herself. “My name is Terri.”
It shifted and leaned forward. “Why?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
“Why did you, a female,” its lip seemed to curl at the mention of her sex, “go into territory not your own to retrieve me from the males?”
Terri saw no reason to hide the truth. “Because there’s no escaping the Reapers in this city, and it’s a very long way to another settlement. I want out of here.”
A light of understanding dawned in the alien’s eyes, and it made a chuffing sound that she suspected was laughter. It leaned closer, showing a hint of fangs as it spoke. “You desire protection.”
She did not deny it. “I do. Bedlam is good protection, but even he can’t save me from the Reapers if I can’t get out of the city fast enough.”
“Bedlam?”
She gestured to the animal, and again the alien chuffed.
“Good name,” he snorted. “Bedlam, anarchy, chaos, mayhem. All translations provided in my systems would be suitable for a dorashnal. He, however, is Krono.”
Krono scampered to the alien’s side eagerly at the mention of his name.
Terri scooted closer, her curiosity getting the better of her. “How is it that you speak my language?”
The alien flicked a finger toward a place just in front of his ear. “Translator implant. My vessel downloaded your language files from your satellites. It proved useful when the males attempted their torture. My nanos have been learning, even when my body was forced to sleep. Learning about the Reapers and building up my resistance to their methods of caging me.” Again, it chuffed with its eerie laughter. The alien didn’t seem to think much of the Reapers’ attempts to torture it. Its tone conveyed no little amount of mockery if she was interpreting it correctly. Had it just been waiting for an opportune moment to attack?
“You didn’t need my help then,” she observed.
“I did not,” it agreed, tilting its head toward her.
An ember of hope lit inside of her. It might work to her benefit if she kept it curious and interested in her. It had little use for her otherwise. She licked her lips nervously. “Will you help me?”
It jerked its head away and growled. Her nerves tingled as if stuck with pins, but she resisted the urge to scramble away in fear. It wasn’t acting aggressively toward her. Her only enemy at the moment was her natural fight-or-flight instinct when faced with an obviously superior predator. The tentacle whips around its head swelled. “I am here to salvage, nothing more. This planet was not supposed to be inhabited by a living civilization.”
Terri snorted. “Well, in all fairness, it’s not really a civilization any longer. All that’s left on Earth are scattered settlements and a few roaming caravans. A few tribal groups have managed to survive from what I’ve been told. I don’t know. I’ve never been outside Phoenix. I’m not sure if it is any better on other parts of the planet, but I suspect not. From what my grandparents told me, our series of World Wars pretty much wiped us out, even those who tried to remain uninvolved.”
The alien muttered to itself in another language before leveling her with an irritated stare. “My sensors failed to detect a sentient presence, but your species is living in primitive means below sustainability. Those who do not adapt will cease to exist.”
She winced, but it was nothing that she hadn’t considered herself. Human civilization had fallen and was long gone. Even the planet was barely limping along, judging by the freak storms that often raged. Like a host determined to get rid of a parasite, their planet was correcting itself, renewing, and killing off most of the humans. More died every year.
She considered her options. She had nothing to give, and obviously she would only amuse the alien for short stretches of time before it would likely become disinterested in her presence.
She needed to offer something useful.
“You said you’re here to salvage. What if I help you?”
That got its attention. The alien whipped its head around, its brow dipped in contemplation.
She hurried to make her pitch. She would do anything to get out of Phoenix, even pick through trash for parts. “I mean, obviously you can handle the Reapers, but I’m sure you want to get done quickly. With twice as many hands working, you can get out of here faster with your load. And when you leave, you can just drop me off someplace on your way out.”